Year: 2018

3 Tips for the Aspiring PR Pro

Clairemont InternBlog, Professional Development, Public RelationsLeave a Comment on 3 Tips for the Aspiring PR Pro

Spending the summer interning at Clairemont, an award-winning Raleigh PR agency, allowed me to observe some of the best public relations professionals in the industry. While I learned too much to capture in a single blog post, I want to end the summer with the following tips for those aspiring to have a career in this exciting field:

#1 Lead By Reading

Read. Read often. Read newspapers, articles, books and blogs. How can you expect to successfully pitch a media contact if you have never read his or her work, or collaborate with a blogger on a project if you’ve never visited the blog? Reading a variety of media sources will help to expand your mind and vocabulary while keeping you connected with trends.

#2 Keep Learning

PR is an ever-changing field. One day, everyone’s doing the “Shiggy”, and the next, it’s old news. This doesn’t only apply to trends. Technology and relationships are always changing, too. So be sure you’re stay relevant through reading (see above), networking, discussions, events and travel.

#3 Let It Roll Off Your Back

As a PR pro, you’ll be communicating with a lot of people. You won’t always see eye-to-eye with clients, social media followers may ignore the content you thought was golden and you might be hung up on or ignored when pitching. (Happens at least once to the best of us.) Don’t let it get to you; everyone is human. Take a moment to recompose yourself, hone your strategy, double check your details and try again!

Interested in pursuing a career in PR? Read Clairemont’s other posts on PR internships and entry level positions.

Written by intern Yasmine Evans, a senior at NC State University.

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Should You Buy Followers?

Clairemont InternBlog, Public Relations, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , , , Leave a Comment on Should You Buy Followers?

We’ve all done it. You post fresh content, respond to comments and employ a good balance of organic and paid exposure, but it seems like your social media following is growing at a snail’s pace.

Growing your social media can cause headaches and take an amount of effort and time that you feel like you may not have. You’ve heard that some accounts pay to boost their followers and, at this point, it seems like a creative solution to your problem, right? Unfortunately, like all things too-good-to-be-true, that notion is a little misguided.

Buying social media followers can have more consequences than just taking a large bite out of your budget.

1) It can damage your brand reputation. While buying followers can seem harmless at first, once real followers discover that your profile numbers have been padded, they may feel as if you are no longer credible. Once your brand suffers a negative reputation, it can be difficult to regain your customers’ trust.

2) You won’t get the engagement you need. With thousands of “bot” accounts (accounts created for users that don’t exist, copycat accounts or hacked accounts), you won’t be getting the true engagement that you need for social media success. Sure, you may be paying for hundreds of likes and retweets, but when you post content, the consumer is more than likely one of your fake followers. That doesn’t help get your message out there or grow your business.

3) It can be expensive. If you still want to risk it, think about how much money you’ll be paying to potentially damage your reputation and acquire hollow engagement. Most companies that provide these follower accounts charge in bulk for followers, likes and retweets. It could cost you anywhere from $50 to a few thousand dollars regularly.

4) It often violates platforms’ terms of use. If you still think that buying followers on social media is a good idea, think about this: it violates many of the top platforms’ terms of use, including Twitter and Instagram. While it’s not illegal, your account could be suspended or even removed.

It may seem like your account will take forever to gain a hefty following, but by uploading and sharing quality content strategically, you can grow your social media accounts. Try working in some hashtag magic or become acquainted with Instagram’s new algorithm to start.

If you need to step back and let some pros take over, drop us a line, DM us or tweet us!

Written by intern Yasmine Evans, a senior at NC State University.

 

 

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A Garden Wall in Provence

Clairemont InternBlog, Clairemont Client News, Public Relations, , , , Leave a Comment on A Garden Wall in Provence

“A Garden Wall in Provence” by Carrie Knowles is a comfortable, light-hearted read of 100 pages. Staged in a nook of Avignon, France, the novel unwinds the tale of Monique and her mother, Madame Reynaud. Monique was crippled by a violent wind known as the “mistral” at the young age of 10 years, and limited by her physical challenges, she has lived with her family since childhood. Monique and her mother treasure an exceptionally close relationship, a bond further strengthened after her father’s passing several years ago. This book chronicles the intertwined lives of Monique and Madame Reynaud over the course of the week leading up to Monique’s 30th birthday.

These women encounter obstacles people pray they’ll never have to face, such as physical weakness and the loss of a loved one. All the while Monique has begged her mother to allow her to explore employment, a request Madame Reynaud refuses year after year. Protective of her injured daughter, Madame Reynaud yearns to shelter Monique from any additional pain beyond what she already endures. Madame Reynaud not only serves as the caregiver for her daughter but also generously tends to her neighbors and friends on a daily basis.

In the week leading up to Monique’s birthday, “A Garden Wall in Provence” explores friendship, empowerment, self-awareness, love and most importantly, the depth of family bonds. Monique isn’t the only one in the family who finds joy on her birthday!

I recommend this book to anyone looking for a relaxing, calming read. In addition to a warming and captivating storyline, you’ll be treated with a few mouthwatering French bread recipes at the end!

We’re excited to be working with client Carrie Knowles, a widely published author, multi-media artist, international traveler and the 2014 Piedmont Laureate. Stay tuned for our future adventures with Carrie!

Written by Clairemont intern, Kennedy Norton, a fashion blogger and senior at North Carolina State University.

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Top 3 (free) graphic design tools of 2018

Clairemont InternBlog, Public Relations, , , , Leave a Comment on Top 3 (free) graphic design tools of 2018

With an increasing need for visual content, companies and organizations are becoming reliant on graphic designers and videographers to promote their campaigns. Luckily, there are dozens of free programs out there that can do the heavy lifting for you!

I scoured the interwebs to find the hottest design softwares that are available at no cost. I tested 10 different websites and programs to determine which three provide the best interface, toolset and quality. To accomplish this I spent about 20 to 30 minutes on each one to see what I could create. (Caveat: By no means am I a professional graphic designer; so please show some grace with my designs.)

easel.ly

Just as its name implies, easel.ly is a simple tool that focuses on graphics, shapes and colors. Its “drag-and-drop” feature makes adding images, shapes and graphics a breeze. The design tool’s best purpose is creating infographics. The website has hundreds of templates and samples to start, making the process quick and easy. You don’t even have to download anything, and everything is labeled very clearly. As with any free software, there is a premium version that gives you access to its entire library of templates and illustrations. If you are in need of a stat sheet or a quick poster, I would highly recommend it! easel.ly can be run right from your browser! (Not to be confused with ease.ly.)

GIMP

GNU Image Manipulation Program is an open-source graphics editor used primarily for photo editing, free-form drawing and reformatting images. GIMP looks pretty overwhelming at first with a lot of grey sidebar buttons and dozens of tiny tabs. However, every tool in the program is available with just a right click of the mouse! The software has so many different features that you could spend a whole day applying new filters, transformations, pathways, color scapes and more to your photos.

A variety of color applications and functions are offered in GIMP, which was my favorite part. While it may take a while to learn everything, the professional features available in GIMP make it a go-to for picture editing. You must download the software before using it.

Gravit Designer

I will finish the list with the most impressive software I encountered: Gravit Designer. Available directly in your browser, this all-in-one tool gives the user a wide range of creative space with an intuitive interface. The program is capable of graphics manipulation, creation and illustration. The screen is your digital playground in Gravit, and it was easy to find the tricks I wanted to employ. It has great functionality and allows you to develop shapes in a simple way. I would highly recommend using this for poster design, presentations and illustrating. It is available to download for any platform as well.

 

While these are my top three suggestions, the best program is the one YOU like the most! Below all are the programs I tried. Find the one that is most suited for you! Share your favorite programs with us on Twitter!

Cover Photo Credit: © [Redpixel] / Adobe Stock

Written by intern Nathan J. McDaniel, a senior at Western Carolina University.

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“Secret Sauce” for Client Relationships

Tracy LathanBlog, Hiring a PR Firm, , , Leave a Comment on “Secret Sauce” for Client Relationships

The foundation of any good relationship is built on several fundamental values, such as trust, transparency and mutual respect. But there also needs to be that spark, or chemistry, to really make the magic happen. The same holds true for successful agency/client relationships.

Throughout my career, I have worked on numerous account teams and navigated through all types of client relationships. The one common thread among the accounts where we really moved the needle for the client and produced big results were the ones where we had the secret sauce.

Wondering what the ingredients are? Let me share a few with you.

Mutual Respect – This should go without saying, but sadly that is not always the case. The client and the agency team members need to have a mutual respect for one another as well as for their roles and responsibilities on the account. They need to be able to really listen to each other and understand their respective areas of expertise.

Trust – Trust is key. As an extension of the internal team, clients need to be able to trust their agency partner as they would their in-house colleagues. Confidential information must not be shared and deadlines need to be consistently met to establish that trust. They also need to be able to trust that their agency partner has their back and is looking out for issues and opportunities that could affect the business.

Good Rapport – Often during a busy workday it feels like there isn’t much time for chit chat. But sometimes taking those extra few minutes at the end of a call with a client to ask about her weekend or family can make all the difference in the world. You are building a relationship, and while it must always be professional, taking the time to also make it personal can make all the difference in the world.

Honesty – I think we all would agree delivering bad news to a client is never easy, but it is always best to be upfront from the beginning and for the agency contact to alert the client at the first sign of trouble. If a project is going over budget or there are hiccups when planning a big event, pick up the phone and let the client know where things stand. That approach will eliminate any big surprises at the end and will help build the trust I mentioned earlier.

Sometimes it’s effortless, and all of these elements fall into place naturally. Other times the dynamic doesn’t start out as smoothly, and you need to cultivate the relationship. Either way, it’s in everyone’s best interest to put in the extra work to make sure the key ingredients are in the secret sauce. It will pay off in the long run. I promise.

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